


The Justice Cabal and the Far, Far Range

by Squishy (BurbleJerry)



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening, Slime Rancher (Video Game)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Slime Rancher Fusion, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Gender-Neutral Marc|Morgan, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Humor, Implied Relationships, Misunderstandings, Other, Slime, Video Game Mechanics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 17:08:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20085760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurbleJerry/pseuds/Squishy
Summary: Seeking new horizons, the Justice Cabal set out on their most daring adventure yet, and traverse space itself to settle a mostly-tamed planet of dangerous slime monsters!





	The Justice Cabal and the Far, Far Range

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Justice Cabal have arrived at their new home on the planet of the Far, Far Range! Owain and Cynthia, eager for adventure, set off to begin exploring, but they don’t quite find what they expected.

The property was smaller then Owain expected it to be. There were a few neat square plots to either side of the entry archway, and a few more plots on the raised stand of land on the far side. A simple, round house, one-story and distinctly cozy, and various electronic displays and kiosks were the only other prebuilt things. The ground was a pale, dusty orange-red, with darker, oblong rocks rising as if in miniature of the bordering mountains. These were a sharp contrast to the vast, sparkling majesty of the pale green Slime Sea.

“A humble abode for star-hopping heroes,” Owain observed after he, Nah, Morgan, and Cynthia had spent a little time exploring their new home.

“It needs some work,” Cynthia agreed. “But we can do it! It’ll show how much we’ll grow as adventurers! Before you know it, this will be a mighty ranch, filled with horrible beasts that only we can tame!”

Owain grinned and struck a pose as Cynthia did. “Exactly! These slime monsters shall learn to fear the mighty Justice Cabal!” They high-fived, then rushed into the house, leaving their two ranchmates behind.

Morgan laughed at their excitement before looking to Nah with a bright smile. “Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll calm down soon. I can’t help but sympathize, though, since we have a great big world to explore now!”

Nah sighed. “I’d rather figure out how this ranch works, first,” she admitted while they both walked casually towards the house. “But,” she added, glancing around, “after that, we should explore, too.”

“I agree. We should be prepared for anything, after all.” Morgan smiled. “I don’t think my cousin or Cynthia will wanna wait, but they should be fine.”

Within the house were a few rooms, bedrooms, a big main room with their ranching equipment and simple furnishings. Their luggage had to be unpacked, bedrooms claimed, and by the end of it all they were tired. But the next day...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After breakfast and preparations, Owain, Cynthia, Morgan, and Nah sat upon the old wooden stairs that connected the ground-level and raised parts of their ranch. Their vacpacks sat beside them as they looked over the Slimepedia, items given to them to aid in ranching slimes on the Far, Far Range.

“Hmm, so we use these ‘vacpacks’ to suck up stuff,” Cynthia mumbled while they squinted at the thick book. “Like slimes and food, and… stuff, and they’re kind of storage? That’s pretty nifty!”

“It must be hazardous to touch the poisonous natives of this deadly planet,” Owain guessed, squinting at the book for confirmation and finding none. “We are armed only with our weapons,” he motioned to the vacpacks, “our knowledge,” he lifted the Slimepedia, “and our wits!” He grinned at everyone proudly. 

Morgan nodded, very seriously, then asked, “Could we look at the Slimepedia?” for they knew when their cousin had that tone: it meant adventure was afoot.

“Certainly, master strategist!” Owain tossed the book to his cousin, who caught it easily. Then he looked to Cynthia with a twinkle in his grey-green eyes. “Are you prepared to venture out?”

“Yeah!” Cynthia grinned back at Owain and shot to her feet, nearly kicking away her pink vacpack in the process. “Let’s go wrangle some slimy slimes!”

Owain stood up, quickly strapping on his own yellow vacpack. “Come, my love! The unknown awaits-- er, lemme help you with that,” he said, stepping up to help the struggling Cynthia with her vacpack. “Now we go!”

“Good luck storming the castle,” Morgan called as they left, before they and Nah bent their heads over the Slimepedia again.

Together, Cynthia and Owain left the ranch through the faded gates and over the worn cobblestones. Owain all but sprinted, Cynthia jogging beside him, and they rushed out to the rocky, dusty Dry Reef with hearts ablaze. Then Owain skidded to a halt, and Cynthia, surprised, tumbled past and down a short incline upon the pale orange dirt.

Owain rushed to help Cynthia stand, and then they both just stared. Before them, among some rocks and some Nah-height short trees, were a few dozen adorable, bouncing, pink, gelatinous spheres with simple little faces.

“Maybe those are just the babies…?” Cynthia hazarded.

Owain, visibly deflating, slowly stated, “I think I know why they used cute pictures for the slime monsters now.” For those very pictures bounced before them, or stacked atop one another, or simply existed with tiny smiles. He watched as one of the happy pink slimes bounced close to them, stared at them with tiny dark eyes, and made a cute little sound.

“They’re adorable,” Cynthia whispered. She knelt and carefully picked up the slippery slime, which made a tiny surprised sound. Then it simply slipped out of her hands with an ‘oof’ upon hitting the ground. “Oh! Sorry,” she apologized. The pink slime smiled blankly and sat there, idly wiggling in place.

Owain stared out at the simple, bouncing things, then snapped his fingers, “Wait! What if these are just the babies, and their horrible parents are in hiding? Clearly we must find and tame the dangerous ones!”

“Good idea!” Cynthia grinned, and they struck one of their customary Hero-Duo poses! Then she eyed the slimes. “I should take one with us. To, uh, lure out its angry parents!”

To Cynthia’s relief, Owain was easily swayed. “That’s a brilliant idea! We’ll surely catch their ire.” The only difficulty was picking up one of the things. Over and over, the little slimes slipped or bounced out of her arms, as if they were nothing but gelatinous lifeforms!

“Wait!” Owain interrupted with a hand on her arm, while she pouted after the seventh slime to simply bounce away. “Cynthia, look,” he stage whispered.

Cynthia turned and stopped. Bouncing into their little piece of the Dry Reef was a larger slime. Pink, but with cat-like ears and tail. It rolled among the smaller, pink slimes; it meowed, and she gasped at the sheer adorableness.

“I’ll distract the babies, you go for their queen,” Cynthia whispered. Owain gave a sharp, dramatic nod and turned to face the larger slime. Meanwhile, she knelt down and smooshed the tiny pink slime’s cheeks.

Owain locked eyes with the cat-like slime. It wiggled in place, not like the smaller slimes, but as if preparing for some dastardly attack!

“Come at me, vicious alieAAAAH!!”

What began as an intimidating monologue ended as the largo slime bounced with startling speed into Owain’s face. It immediately bounced back off his face as if made of clouds, and while Owain was left staring in confusion, it meowed and rolled away.

Cynthia stood and peered at Owain carefully. “Are you ok?”

At first, Owain didn’t react. Then he wiped the pink slime off his face, and spoke so softly that Cynthia had to lean in closer to hear him. “I’d thought that the vicious monsters of this planet would be…” he hesitated, shoulders slumped, “scarier than this.”

“I’m sure there are scarier critters here somewhere,” Cynthia offered in consolation. “We should keep looking. Oh, maybe they’re just further in?”

“That may be true,” Owain admitted. He straightened up and forced a grin that Cynthia easily saw through. “Let us continue our quest!” Before Cynthia could respond to him, he rushed off with a lack of spring in his step.

Cynthia frowned at the sight. “Aww, I hope we find a big scary monster,” she mumbled to herself before jogging to catch up. Above them in the pale blue sky, the sun had begun to set.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Owain’s enthusiasm be forever dampened? Will Cynthia be able to hug a cute slime? What are Morgan & Nah even up to? Find out next time! (end-of-episode 90s music plays)

**Author's Note:**

> For ages, I told myself, ‘I oughta write a Slime Rancher AU’. For ages, I didn’t know how to do it. But now, I have my answer… and it’s wiggly.
> 
> If you like my work, please check out my personal/writing Twitter @Squishy_Jerry!


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